If you have any questions which you think should be on this FAQ, please leave a comment or use the contact form. I will either add your question to this FAQ or address it in a future blog.
What are these books about?Five hundred years in the future, a space station is destroyed, killing thousands of police officers. A huge reward is offered for the capture of the terrorist responsible, and bounty hunters come out of the woodwork to claim the prize. The series focuses on a specific group of bounty hunters who come together and form a team. Over the course of the series, they take other bounty hunting jobs, but all the while they continue to search for the fugitive who destroyed the station.
Who are the main characters?Bloodstone: Highly-skilled and very mysterious, Bloodstone is the galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunter.
Whisper: A master of stealth and martial arts, with the ability to manipulate shadow and sound.
Raven: A scientist/doctor. Having lost her limbs, she uses a cybernetic body to move around.
Trenyn: From a telepathic species with only one sex, they can only speak telepathically, and have mild telekinetic abilities.
Dervish: A shapeshifter, bred to be a slave. Now she struggles to assert her own identity.
Vik: A police officer on a mission of personal revenge. He has experimental implants that give him gravity powers.
Yna: A former pirate who can turn into an energy form. She is often accompanied by a giant cat named
Panther.
When and where do the books take place?The first book starts at the end of the year 2499. The story starts near Earth, but the characters visit planets all over the galaxy.
Is it a novel or a collection of short stories?A little of both. Volume 1 (
Bad Blood) is a novella, followed by a collection of short stories. Volume 2 (
Blue Blood) is similar, but it starts with a collection of short stories, then ends by resolving the overarching plot started in Volume 1. Volume 3 (
New Blood) features a new team, but several of the original characters do play a large role in the story.
Why did you collect the stories in this format?I debated on releasing them in smaller or larger collections, but I finally decided “novel size” was a good way to go. There have been some complaints that I didn’t wrap up the initial plot in the first novella, but I see it as being more like a TV series. The first half of Volume 1 is the two-hour season premiere, and the short stories are episodes. The episodes have their own plots, independent of the overarching plot of the series. The end of Volume 2 is like the double-length season finale of the series.
How many books are in the series?As of this writing, four. They are:
Blood Samples Volume. Most of the books are half novel, half collections of short stories. While many of the short stories do further the overall plot, I still like to think of them as collections rather than full novels.
Are the books LGBT+ friendly?Yes, at least I hope so. The series features two prominent transgender characters, and some of the other characters are gay, bi, ace, or questioning.
Are the books child-friendly?That’s for you to decide. The stories contain violence and death, and a small amount of strong language. There is frank talk of transgender issues, including some depictions of transphobia. The books contain some sexual situations, but they aren’t very explicit, in my opinion. Personally I don’t think they’re any more offensive than some of the books I read for high school, but you may feel differently.
Is it hard or soft sci-fi?I consider it pretty soft, bordering on cheesy. I’d put it on the level of Star Wars but without the mysticism. But it does have some hard sci-fi elements. For example, rather than ships having FTL drives, they use warp gates to get from one solar system to another. Planet-to-planet trips within a solar system take hours rather than minutes.
What’s the deal with the “ED” numbers at the beginning of each chapter?ED stands for EarthDate, and the format is ED.YYYYY.MM.DD. Therefore, ED.02499.12.31 means that chapter takes place on December 24, 2499 (UTC). It’s hard to keep a proper timeline when so many of the stories take place on different planets, each of which presumably has their own calendar. However, EarthDate is recognized across the galaxy as a secondary way of tracking time.
What are comm units?Basically smartphones. Note that I started writing these stories in the late 90s, almost a decade before the first iPhone. At the time, I pictured comms as small walkie-talkie devices, with a bunch of built-in special features, like Star Trek tricorders. But once smartphones became ubiquitous, I gradually started thinking of comm units as smartphones. So why don’t the people in my books just call them smartphones? It just didn’t sound sci-fi enough.
What are AON weapons?AON weapons are knives or other edged weapons with superheated blades. While the blade is activated, it can cut through materials that would normally be impossible. The blades come in a variety of colors.
What is Levatech?Levatech is the technology that allows for artificial gravity and hovercars. It can be used to pull or repel other objects.
Will there be a Bloodhunters Volume 4?As I write this, I’m currently working on a book called “Itropa.” It’s set in the same universe as Bloodhunters, but it isn’t necessary to read the Bloodhunters books to understand it. I haven’t decided what my next project will be after that.
Do I read Bloodhunters Volume 1 first, or Blood Samples?Do you prefer reading things in release order, or chronological order?
Blood Samples is a prequel, with six short stories, all taking place in the months leading up to
Bloodhunters v1: Bad Blood. Blood Samples gives a little bit of extra background to some of the characters, but it isn’t required reading to understand the story.
Are these books just a bunch of woke, SJW, politically-correct nonsense?If you’re the kind of person who uses “woke” as an insult, then you probably won’t like these books.
Do you have a (Facebook/Twitter/Etc) page?You can see my list of links
here, or you can check out my
Linktree page.
Can I read a sample of your writing style before I spend money on your books?Yes, several ways. You can also get a sampler of my short stories by signing up for my
mailing list. I’ve posted a few of the chapters on this blog, which you can see by clicking the “
Excerpts” tag. The first two chapters of Volume 1 are
here. You can also read the preview on its
Amazon page.
Who does your book covers?The covers for Volumes 1-3 were done by Cyanimations. He is usually open for commissions, if you need some art done. You can view his DeviantArt page
here.
How do I become a self-published author?I’m not the best one to ask. My suggestion would be to join the “
Self Published Authors” subreddit and read their
wiki. You also might check out
Draft2Digital.
What word processor do you use?I use
Scrivener, and I love it. It has a bunch of really powerful features, though it can be confusing at times.
Will you read my book and tell me if it’s any good?Probably not. I just don’t have a lot of free time. However, whenever one of my books nears completion, I do seek out beta readers. I might be convinced to do a read-for-read trade.
I found a typo in one of your books. Should I pass it along?Please do!
I found a plot hole in one of your books. Should I pass it along?Bite me!
What’s the deal with your pseudonym?As a child, I really liked the name Christine. When I realized I was trans, I started using the screen name “1958 Fury” on online forums, a reference to the Stephen King novel, Christine. Later I realized I was an atheist, and suddenly having "Christ" in my name wasn’t as appealing. So I replaced those letters with X, making my name “Xine” (pronounced Zeen).
Do you have a mailing list?Yes, you can sign up
here. And if you do so, you'll get a free sample of some of my short stories.
Have you written any other books?
You can also buy my paperbacks on IngramSpark:
Bloodhunters: Volume 1 - Volume 2 - Volume 3
Short Stories: Geek Cutes - Rainbow Nightmares - Gender Rolls - Side Quests
Nomads of Zyden
